u.s. federal holiday. tonight it is going to be extraordinary. a concert that's uplifting and educational and only seen here on cnn. enjoying an extraordinary display of black talent of genres and generations here. the all-star lineup with earth wind and fire with "september" and the legendary chaka khan live on stage with "ain't nobody." that's michelle turner next to me. and khalid with "talk" and ne-yo performing and also featured special messages. michelle obama and the first black vice president of the united states kamala harris and will hear from president joe biden. we'll set the stage for the show in less than an hour by talking to the woman known as the grandmother of juneteenth which is opal lee. amazingly young at 95. played a leading role to push lawmakers to formally recognize this holiday. so happy to be with you. it will be a production unlike anything we have seen. the first thing you hear groaning is next to me, michelle turner. >> i want to know who authorized this pairing. >> it will be trouble. >> right? >> i miss sitting next to you on cnn set. >> a picture perfect day in hollywood. so glad to see many people filed into the hollywood bowl already. >> you know who's there? >> yes. >> sara sidner is there. tell us what to expect in the hours ahead. >> can i just say i'm so happy to be alive to be a part of this? >> yes, sister. >> i'm in the iconic hollywood bowl. there is nothing that says los angeles like this venue. i'm going to give you a quick look to see and get -- i want you to be with me and feel what i'm feeling. our photographer mike love will give you a view of this gorgeous venue. it's been 100 years, that's how long this place has been putting on acts. and here are some of the acts that you are going to see. ♪ from the nostalgic -- don't play with me. >> "poison" is happening. >> to the iconic. ♪ ♪ i'm every woman ♪ to the rising stars. ♪ you should try to be black like me ♪ >> i never dreamed the opportunities would present itself. >> like mickey will take the stablg at the hollywood bowl celebrating juneteenth and the diversity of black american culture. >> to be able to share this slice of culture in american hoist ri with the world is a big deal. >> producing award shows and super bowl halftime shows but as executive producer, she says this show has added meaning. >> to make sure that we all stand together to protect the freedoms. >> juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 that texas slaves finally learned they were free. two and a half years after the emancipation proclamation. >> to see a group of people to get through that and overcome and thrive i think is a message of hope. >> stars include khalid, earth wind and fire and the roots. even poetry from the incomparable jill scott. president of live nation urban, an organizer of the show saying this celebration will make history. >> first time in the 100 years of the hollywood bowl an all-black orchestra gracing the stage. >> that's a long time to wait. >> for whatever reason it didn't happen in the 99 years but it is progress. >> president biden will join kamala harris and michelle obama with videotaped messages in the show. what is special about this? >> president biden signed the bill to make this a national holiday. vice president harris, in his herb home state. mrs. obama is still sort of fighting for our freedom. >> absolutely there's going to be fun and celebration. that's what this is all about. >> stars say they'll bring the fun that organizers hope will be a tradition. >> people can sit the kids down in front of and be educated about juneteenth in a fun way. >> learning and jamming at the same time. >> yes, yes. >> i promise you i will dancing. off camera to spare you. this event, what a great group. we listened to earth wind and fire. philip bailey is still hitting the high notes. how does it do it? four octave range still on point. this is going to be a fantastic show. i cannot wait to share it with you all back there and i get to sit here and watch it in person. >> we want to see the dancing on camera. >> i have seen her before. >> i don't know. sara will guide us through this. >> excuse me? did you say -- no. >> i didn't say anything. you hearing things. thank you. enjoy, enjoy. what are you looking forward to? >> all of it in short answer. shawn g said we are not a monolith. we are a mosaic. i identify with who mickey is and brings to country music. i never knew where she belonged. >> my grandmother would listen to country music in the middle of the night on the radio. >> absolutely why knowing that she is performing "black like me" sits with me. and all time favorites the roots and the new favorites lucky day. they will be performing, too. >> but don't forget that this is a learning experience. how do you celebrate? is it for everybody? >> absolutely. >> you are going to hear from the former first lady and jill scott. someone you may know of, happens to be the vice president of the united states and the president. that lady. it is a learning experience. it is a new holiday. a new national holiday and something we have been celebrating forever. >> everyone celebrates july fourth and america's independence and should celebrate the end of an ill of this society. i think everybody should be out in the streets and hollywood bowl cheering and dancing. juneteenth is not a holiday that we should be somber on. it is a holiday to celebrate and be happy because it was an end to a really dark -- official end to a dark period in america's history. >> i got to speak to opal lee. grandmother to this. fought for ittin to be a nation holiday. >> she walks two and a half miles because it was two and a half years black americans new they were free. before general granger rode in and told the slaves that they are free. >> i love that. you know what? i love that so much. it will be dark and will do that. i'm serious. if 95-year-old opal lee can do it come on. 47-year-old michelle turner can do it. >> i said i got to go. she said to me, oh, you think this interview is over? no, ma'am. you can have the entire hour. >> exactly. >> earned it. >> it's the hollywood bowl. it is an iconic place for an iconic event and so many people. not just the people to see on stage performing but notable names in the audience to commemorate and mark this special holiday. >> i was on a plane and sitting with a family and she is one of the presenters on stage. she is a mini mongul in the day. it is fear's day and to see the fathers celebrating them and juneteenth makes my heart so full. >> thinking about international television and looking at you as the black host of entertainment tonight. >> i mean, how about that? >> i know, right? me here on cnn. it is amazing. my conversation with opal lee is coming up and why she fought so hard for this holiday and what it means for the entire country leading up to the concert with performances from earth, wind and fire. this is juneteenth on cnn. >> tech: cracked windshield? 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[ sleep app ] i'm still here. oh boy. here we go... remember, mom's a kayak denier, so please don't bring it up. bring what up, kayak? excuse me? do the research, todd. listen to me, kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to find you great deals on flights, cars and hotels. they're lying to you! who's they? kayak? arr! open your eyes! compare hundreds of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. the excitement is building at the hollywood bowl with les than an hour to go with a juneteenth concert. you will see it all live but right now let's put the spotlight on the grandmother of juneteenth and that's opal lee playing a leading role in the fight to make this a federal holiday. watch this. so, miss opal lee, thank you for being here. happy juneteenth. how does it feel to celebrate this holiday? >> i'm still pinching myself to make sure it really happened. >> right. >> i want you to know that it's mind boggling to think that we actually have a holiday. i don't know how to explain it. >> what do you say to those who question why juneteenth needs to be a federal holiday when this country has july fourth? >> they need to be aware that juneteenth means freedom. they need to know the story of general gordon granger getting to galveston with some 7,000 black troops. and they spread out and told people that the slaves were free. you see president abraham lincoln had declared with the emancipation proclamation that they were free january 1863. >> right. >> but it didn't reach texas. >> until two years later. >> yeah. the 19th of june 1865. oh, was that a day to be remembered. you see, the general read this paper he had. it was called general number 3. said all slaves are free. then he nailed that to what's now reedy chapel episcopal church. when somebody read that to them we started to celebrating and celebrating ever since. >> in your 95 years do you think that we have made a difference? what's the progress in your eyes and experience? >> we have made progress. i think it goes in spurts. harriet tubbman. martin king. malcolm x. rosa park. each one of those. and then to lose that child's life where the people come out with the black lives matter. all these things give us a little push. but we haven't arrived yet. and so i keep telling people that it's left up to us that each one of us should be responsible for another of us. it is in the bible. we are brother's keeper. and so, i tell you that if we, if people can be taught to hate they can be taught to love. i give this advice. you know people who aren't on the same page you are on. change their minds. and the minds can be changed. that's not going to happen in a day. it's going to take work. and so if we carried a million 500,000 signatures to congress and prepared to take that many more when we got the call to the white house for the signing of the bill to make it a national holiday don't you know 3 million people on the same page could turn this country around? >> people ask me, they have been asking me for some years now, i don't know, before it was a national holiday how do you celebrate and now they say how do you celebrate? my answer is i say you celebrate by learning about the emancipation proclamation and juneteenth and if you have a barbecue for fourth of july have one for juneteenth. >> let me tell you what we do. we used to have fabulous parades. then we had caravans. now we have walks. and i walk two and a half miles and the people follow. they walk with me. that two and a half miles is to symbolize that the enslaved with respect free for two and a half years after they were supposed to be free so now i say to people, let's have a breakfast of prayer and we do. that's not to be confused with a prayer breakfast and the programs as the young people say, they off the chain. they're beautiful. there's so much that people need to learn. i advocate that we celebrate from the 19th of june to the 4th of july. that would be -- that would be celebrating freedom. what do you think of that? >> i think it's fantastic. whatever you say. i think you are amazing. i love the idea of a two and a half mile walk to mark how long it was before people knew that they were free. i'm happy and honored to have you here and be a part of this and thank you for what you have done. >> do you think this interview is over? i got some more stuff to tell you! listen! listen, listen, listen. you see? we're going to have the walk here in fort worth starts at 10:00 but in california it is going to start at 8:00 and in philadelphia it will start at 11:00 and it will be simulcast. is that the word? >> that's correct. >> it will be shown all over the world and you ought to be part of it. >> i'm so glad we had this time together. i hope i get more time to spend with you. >> okay. >> and walk with you. miss opal lee -- >> all right. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for having me here. >> happy juneteenth. >> and the same to you. >> and that suddenly makes it all worthwhile. >> as the young folks say got you together. >> she did. >> you think this interview is over? >> i am just -- fallen head over heels for that lady. so much life she's lived. think about the things she's seen in 95 years in this country. >> you said something as the interview was playing. i love that idea. >> celebrate from the 19th of june to july fourth. it should be an entire country celebration. why not bridge the two? that is what this means. when everybody has the right to freedom. every man, woman and child is free. we should celebrate throughout this whole time' she talked about the 7,000 troops that went along with general granger to tell slaves that they were free. she said that basically what she is saying is what we say. make -- have a relationship with someone that doesn't look like you and thinks like you. if opal lee -- miss opal lee. my mom will say you are not on a first name basis. have some respect. if she can do that certainly we can as a country. >> i think that i have found in conversations in this country from 2020 on when we really kind of dove deep into the black lives matter you can make a difference starting one person at a time taking gist an extra five minutes. being open and nonjudgmental that sometimes they may have questions you find -- but if you sit in it. have really good conversations, honest conversations you can move forward. let's hope this pushes us and be a bridge to realize that black history is american history. >> black folks celebrate through song. that's what we'll do. >> you know at the hollywood bowl beyonce will narrate a moving tribute to opal lee. talking with billy porter about the performance tonight and the ground breaking artist who pavered the way for his success. juneteenth at the top of the hour. we are back in a moment. don't go anywhere. between the h, the fees... i felt trapped. debt, debt, debt. so i broke up wiwith my credit card debt and consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi.i. i finally feel like a grown-up. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi. get your money right. ♪ grillin', chillin', spillin', dillin'. bec-ing. never brie-ing. smokin', yolkin', flippin', dippin'. if you're not oozing, then you're losing. tater totting, cold or hotting. mealin', feelin', pie-ing, trying. color your spread. upgrade your bread. pair it. share it. kraft singles. square it. you might have heard of carvana and that we sell cars online. we believe buying a car should be something that gets you hyped up. and that your new car ought to come with newfound happiness and zero surprises. and all of us will stop at nothing to drive you happy. we'll drive you happy at carvana. ♪ i want to rock and roll all night ♪ ♪ and party every day. ♪ ♪ i want to rock and roll all night ♪ applebee's late night. because half off is just more fun. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. 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[ low screaming ] but that was an epic fail. with xfi we can stream, share, swipe, like... impress your mom with super-sonic wifi. it's unbeatable internet for a more unbeatable gru. i mean, you. trading isn't just a hobby. it's your future. so you don't lose sight of the big picture, even when you're focused on what's happening right now. and thinkorswim® is right there with you. to help you become a smarter investor. with an innovative trading platform full of customizable tools. dedicated trade desk pros and a passionate trader community sharing strategies right on the platform. because we take trading as seriously as you do. thinkorswim® by td ameritrade it is gorgeous here. we are live in hollywood where thousands of people request gathering in celebration of the new juneteenth federal holiday. it begins in about a half hour. we are expecting show stopping performances by an unprecedented lineup of black talent including actor, singer, author, billy porter. hi, billy porter. >> hello zblchl. >> can i lean in and get a hug from you? >> yes. >> i have loved you forever. >> ditto. >> you will let the children know what time it is. >> yes. >> we are joking but you are doing this and i think one of the most significant things you said that you felt like you have done to be involved in the celebration of juneteenth. >> yeah. you know, i feel like the show that we're doing tonight, the concert, the education for the world is magical. you know? i stand at a lot of intersections so it is nice to have received the call from the company to show up as a black queer man and be a part of this conversation because that doesn't always happen. >> you are a completely emancipated black man. no. you are. you are the embodiment of emancipation. you wear whatever you. sometimes masculine or don't. you have hair and sometimes you don't. >> sometimes i want to play with my hair. >> where does that come from and what's it mean? >> you know -- >> whaesz the lesson? >> it's taken me a long time to get here and what i will say is what a time i'm having. >> right. i ask you because we haven't always had that freedom as people of color. >> no. >> there were roles to fit in to. if you are a man or woman you must be this way and not speak out on this issue and don't offend people. >> i don't know. i just -- i'm an artist. i'm an activist. how i grew up. i'm first generation postcivil rights movement. all i know how to do is show up and activate. i came out in 1985 as queer and we went straight to the lives in the aids crisis. i was in the streets at 18. you know? so it is like -- it's always been this and doesn't feel different or odd. >> even new to you? >> no. >> you are one of the most talented people i know. >> thank you. >> we got that. you will be performing. >> yes. >> children. >> what will you be wearing? >> you will have to see why i don't know yet because i have a couple of options. the choreography, doing a big number and will dictate what i wear. >> all right. how did i do? did i do okay? >> amazing. you always do amazing. >> all right. so i got the okay from billy porter. thank you. you can see they're getting ready at the hollywood bowl. we await the first musical performance. >> it is filling up. >> you are right. hearing from joe biden and michelle obama delivering inspiring messages. here's a preview of a cnn film who broke racial barriers. >> you forget if score and where you are. i feel that my mind is floating within myself. >> people think we're all braun and no brain. >> he started to become a citizen of the world. >> winning the men's wimbledon singles title. >> he had evolved from someone who's analytical to someone who became more about direct action. >> aids became another fight for arthur and he picked it up like he did every other cause. >> he never forgot about the race and i talk about the human race. this is the moment. for a bra